1121. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health the current plans her Department has to include PGT-M in publicly funded fertility care; and the timeline for the implementation. [64131/26]

The Deputy will be aware that the Model of Care for Fertility was developed by the Department of Health in conjunction with the HSE’s National Women & Infants Health Programme to ensure that fertility-related issues are addressed through the public health system at the lowest level of clinical intervention necessary.

The terms of the publicly-funded assisted human reproduction (AHR) treatment initiative are underpinned by the primary policy principle of supporting couples experiencing fertility issues and, most specifically, those who have been trying unsuccessfully to conceive naturally at the time in question.

The access criteria and the terms of the AHR treatment initiative are being kept under ongoing review. Further potential changes to the access criteria or expansion of the initiative require continued extensive consultation between Department officials, colleagues in the HSE, and also with relevant specialists in the field of reproductive medicine. This will include consideration of additional funding requirements which may ensue from any proposed expansion of the initiative.

I recognise the importance of pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT). This is a very complex area of medicine and it is important that it is considered within the appropriate policy and clinical context.

The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024, which was enacted in July 2024 but not yet commenced, provides for the regulation of PGT, including pre-implantation genetic testing for single gene disorders, or PGT-M for short. The 2024 Act sets out the legal parameters and framework within which the provision of PGT-M can be permitted. Specifically, the Act stipulates that testing can only be provided founded on the relevant opinion of a relevant specialist that such provision is necessary to detect whether or not there is a significant risk of a child being born with a serious genetic disease. The Act clearly identifies this relevant specialist as a medical practitioner registered on the specialist division of clinical genetics.

Furthermore, the 2024 Act provides for the establishment of a Register of Genetic Diseases under the auspices of the Assisted Human Reproductive Regulatory Authority, which will provide for a list of identified genetic diseases in respect of which genetic testing such as PGT-M will be permitted.

In the case of rare diseases that are genetic in origin, diagnosis can inform case finding within the family and family planning. For certain disorders, prenatal testing is possible and consideration is being given to the development of PGT services, whereby testing could be provided under certain circumstances and as deemed clinically appropriate.

Within the HSE, the identification and clinical need for consideration of PGT-M is managed directly under the auspices of specialist clinical genetics services as distinct from fertility services. Clinical genetic services factor in the implication and impact of the genetic disorder on the health and well-being of a prospective child in their considerations and recommendations.

I want to assure the Deputy that my Department and the Government are focused, through the full implementation of the Model of Care for Fertility, on ensuring that patients receive care at the appropriate level of clinical intervention and then those requiring, and eligible for, advanced AHR treatment such as IVF will be able to access same through the most effective deployment of finite public resources.